Do You Hunt Deer With a Small Caliber Centerfire?

[W.Seay]

Never! If I was a wuss and scared of recoil I just wouldn't hunt

 

[EastTNHunter]

Ive lost a lot of deer with a 243, just due to lack of blood trail.

It seems for nearly every claim of a deer killed with a .243 there is another just like this of one lost. It is more so than for any other caliber period. I couldn't imagine intentionally carrying an even smaller caliber rifle into the woods for deer.

The same can be said for bow and arrow. It has to do with shot placement and construction of the projectile.

 

[Urban_Hunter]

IMO, it was a great change to accomodate the varment hunters and has caused zero issues. Ethical shots start with the hunter and their mindset. IMO, shooting a deer with a small caliber centerfire shows no worse "ethics" than taking a 300 yard offhand shot with a 7mm mag (for most hunters). Their very likely will be more favorable results with a reasonable .223 shot than the "hail mary" 7mm shot.

Valid! I agree it is great to accommodate the varmint hunters. LOL @ "hail mary". Personally I won't be carrying a .223 for deer, but to each his own. That .260 is a nice round, I'm torn between it and 7mm-08 for my daughter. I like the .260 more, but it seems 7mm-08 is more "available" as fare as ammo goes, at least where I shop at.

 

[mossyoak]

.243 is a grat round for deer.if u dont kill a deer with a .243 it anit the caliber its the bullet choice or shooter.

 

[tickweed]

I love single shots, its all I use. As for a 243, its one of my favorites in my T/C Encore. I have had a trigger job done and its a tack driver. I shoot 100 grain bullets in it, but love the 85 grain hollow points.Bottom line, you put it in the rib cage, its dead. True, make a marginal hit, you may be in trouble, but do your part, no problem.

 

[mossyoak]

I love single shots, its all I use. As for a 243, its one of my favorites in my T/C Encore. I have had a trigger job done and its a tack driver. I shoot 100 grain bullets in it, but love the 85 grain hollow points.Bottom line, you put it in the rib cage, its dead. True, make a marginal hit, you may be in trouble, but do your part, no problem.

absolutly correct

 

[primos32]

I have hunted my whole life with a 243 and never had any problems with it. Only lost one deer out of 15+ and I believe that was due more to bad shot placement.

 

[348Winchester]

I shot a doe this evening with a 30-40 Krag. It dropped, regained its feet, and ran about sixty yards before piling up. Western 180 grain silvertip bullet; I believe the cartridge I fired was 60-70 years old. It was from a partial box of antique ammo a friend gave me 20 odd years ago. I find it amazing that even after so many years it performed flawlessly. The deer was slightly quartering toward me at about fifty yards. Her lungs were jellied and the bullet passed into the rumen. It was a messy gut job!

No small caliber rifle can equal the penetration and kinetic energy of a larger and heavier bullet. I'm not saying they won't kill deer. They most certainly will. They are just not as effective overall. But if that is your choice, that's fine by me!

 

[DeerKiller2012]

I've heard a few people say a .223 tap round performs well on deer, y'all making me curious about finding out on my on . I shot a .243 growing up and very rarely found blood on deer and most all ran 75 to 100 yds with a vitals shot

 

[bbd12]

It's not about being wuss it's shot placement plain an simple

 

[backwoods7]

Im torn also. Ive gota 243, and its scary accurate but ive never hunted with it. I want to but am worried from all the bad press it gets.

 

[mike243]

been killing them for years with a 243 & had them run less distance than I have with my 300wm.223 will kill them also just not at the same distances.picking the proper spot to shoot them is the key to any weapon.I allways go for heart/lung no shoulders or spine shots on purpose.0 lost deer with any rifle other than 1 with a 3030 years ago.

 

[chiggerbit]

Warning! This is only an opinion!

I wish they would change the rules back to 24 cal min. I have first hand witnessed on two occasions where a .243 failed at short range with no obstructions and centered on the kill zone. The first one just blew a giant patch of fur off with no blood at all, ZERO. The deer ran, stopped, turned around and took a 2nd shot to the neck that killed it. The original wound was superficial. The second time we have no idea what happened because we never recovered the deer. Great shot placement but almost zero blood. I just think the bullets are too light and moving too fast, and I think .243 is as close to pushing the envelope as we need to get. I know hundreds are killed with them, but you won't see me or any of my friends/family (that will listen) with one.

I concur.

 

[chiggerbit]

I have a 243 and have only killed 1 deer with it, only reason I'm holding onto and haven't sold it is that my daughter when she gets old enough and may want to hunt then she will use it since its light on recoil. I on the other hand won't use it and wish they would go back to minimum 24 caliber as well.. I personally think anything smaller is doing an injustice to the deer we hunt especially if you wound them.. In my opinion bigger caliber is better for hunting big game anime such as deer.. I want something that I know if I don't hit I perfect or screw up a little that I still have a chance of killing and finding my deer. That doesn't completely mean I will ever lose a deer but certainly something I won't worry about rite before I squeeze a shot off with a small caliber.. Again that's just my opinion.. I hunt with a 308/30-30/7-08

If you feel more comfortable with more firepower, why put the .243 in your daughter's hands when you have a 30-30 or a 7-08? By the way, they make incredibly efficient recoil pads nowadays if you want to go to extra trouble and make sure either doesn't bother her too much.

 

[contendershooter]

Love my 25/06 and my 7.08. Ive lost a lot of deer with a 243, just due to lack of blood trail. Shot lots that took dirt naps right there.

I will have to say my brother-in-law hunts with a 243 shooting either 100gr core-lokts, federal fusion or winchester power points, and I have seen three different deer he has killed and all of them had a pencil sized hole going in and just barely bigger coming out, but the insides were mush...

The 60gr Hornady TAP from my 223 I killed my buck with a couple of years ago looked as if it did more damage.

The worst I think I have ever seen was a buck shot with a .338 Winchester Magnum at Flowers Deer Processing, as the hunter who shot it was there and he was shooting a 225gr Nosler Partition and the exit hole on the rib cage was probably near a 3 inch circle and the exit hole on the cape was a bit bigger than a golf ball.

 

[contendershooter]

IMO, it was a great change to accomodate the varment hunters and has caused zero issues. Ethical shots start with the hunter and their mindset. IMO, shooting a deer with a small caliber centerfire shows no worse "ethics" than taking a 300 yard offhand shot with a 7mm mag (for most hunters). Their very likely will be more favorable results with a reasonable .223 shot than the "hail mary" 7mm shot.

Valid! I agree it is great to accommodate the varmint hunters. LOL @ "hail mary". Personally I won't be carrying a .223 for deer, but to each his own. That .260 is a nice round, I'm torn between it and 7mm-08 for my daughter. I like the .260 more, but it seems 7mm-08 is more "available" as fare as ammo goes, at least where I shop at.

The thing that urks me on those calibers is how high the ammo is. With 25-06 having the 30-06 as the parent case, and 260, 7MM-08, and 338 Federal having the 308 as the parent case, there is no reason ammo for those calibers should be 30.00 a box at Wally World instead of 18.00 like your 243, 270, 308, 30-06, etc...

 

[contendershooter]

I guess another thing to consider is that of the game wardens I have spoke to and articles I have read, the .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire (commonly called 22 Magnum) is by far the most popular poaching caliber, and I have had game wardens tell me that they have personally while doing surveillance trying to catch poachers seen deer shot broadside, quartering towards, and away from distances as far as 150 yards shooting your every day 40gr hollow point or full metal jacket, and the bullet achieved full penetration and the deer went down and acted no different if it would have been shot with a larger caliber. I would say it would not be an ideal everyday deer cartridge if legal, but it comes down to shot placement and using the proper bullet. The 22 centerfires have deer-specific bullets like the 64 grain power point, the 60 grain partition, 62 grain soft points, 64 grain fusion, but the issue is you only see them in .223 and .223WSSM. You don't really see anyone loading deer specific bullets in 22-250 and 220 Swift, only varmint bullets are common in those calibers.

 

[gOtNoDoZe]

I tote a .22-250 for long range shots over cut crop fields. Of course condtions need to be right, not much wind, good solid rest, ect ect. But the 22-250 has been fine on deer in my experience. I killed a good buck(and large bodied also) at 330 yds last year with it using a 55 grain Win ballistic silvertip. Exit hole was as big as a half dollar and the buck didn't go 15 yds... cut the heart in half and take both lungs out and you'll find em most every time. I do enjoy the 338 win mag tho for thick huntin, good times!

 

[m411b]

Warning! This is only an opinion!

I wish they would change the rules back to 24 cal min. I have first hand witnessed on two occasions where a .243 failed at short range with no obstructions and centered on the kill zone. The first one just blew a giant patch of fur off with no blood at all, ZERO. The deer ran, stopped, turned around and took a 2nd shot to the neck that killed it. The original wound was superficial. The second time we have no idea what happened because we never recovered the deer. Great shot placement but almost zero blood. I just think the bullets are too light and moving too fast, and I think .243 is as close to pushing the envelope as we need to get. I know hundreds are killed with them, but you won't see me or any of my friends/family (that will listen) with one.

Wait a minute. Not trying to pic an argument or anything. But you say you wish they would re-institute a 24cal minimum. But in the same paragraph you say that your .243 failed you twice.
.243 is a 24cal, you know that, right?

A lot of this comes down to bullet choice. Of course, no one should hunt for deer with a bullet that is designed for varmint, ie; V-Max. I have no problems dropping a deer at 150-175yds. with a 65gn SP moving at 3250fps with a .223, and that's just as far as I've had luck with it. I'm sure if you look around, you will find others that have went far and beyond 175yds..

Sure if I don't do my part, there's a chance I'll end up wounding the deer. But if your shot placement is number one while you are hunting. There shouldn't be any problems.

 

[archer19]

.243 kills dead as a hammer.